CHAPTER SIX
THE SPIRIT THAT IS AT WORK IN US
But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? Even so, the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1COR 2:9-14
Verse 9 there begins to explain why it is difficult for the natural man to understand what God has prepared for us. It has not been seen, it has not been heard, it can never be conceived by a man’s mind it can never be invented and it has no scientific or natural explanations. Human effort has nothing to do with the reality of these things, they may not be felt by human senses but they are as real as water is wet.
Paul goes on to let us know that God is the one who reveals these things unto us by His Spirit. The spirit that we have in Christ is the Spirit of revelation, opening up to us who we are in Christ and what has been made available for us in Christ. The Spirit of the world cannot show us such things because that realm belongs only to the Spirit of God that’s why Paul said it is the spirit of a man that is in him that knows the things that are in that man, so also the things of God are not known of any other spirit except that of God.
When you have a house; no one who has never entered your house will ever know how it looks like on the inside until you let him in. The things of God are exclusive to the Spirit of God and no man can ever know them unless the Spirit reveals them to him.
It is just like saying that an engineer should work as a physician in the hospital if we try to know the things of God by the spirit of the world. That is an impossible situation because that is not his field, he cannot possibly know what to do and that may become the most difficult situation he ever finds himself. Even so, the things which are of God can only be known and revealed by the spirit of God. The spirit of the world is the spirit of reasoning, but the spirit of God is the spirit of revelation so man cannot reason what God is revealing… we can only believe.
Now we must understand that the things revealed unto us by the Holy Spirit are real and already in existence. They are no longer a promise but a present hour reality. These are the promises that have been fulfilled already in Christ Jesus, we are no longer waiting for them we have them NOW! For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us. 2 COR 1:20.
In Christ Jesus, we are no longer looking forward to the fulfillment of the promises of God but we are at the reality of those promises. But a lot of Christians don’t know this fact that is why we need the Holy Ghost. It is because on our own we cannot know these hidden truths that the Master said “I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.” John 16:12-13
What is the truth that the Spirit is guiding us into or has guided us into? If only “we” know these things so that we can stop living the lower lives. The spirit guides us into the truth of what Jesus did for us, the truth of who we have become in Christ Jesus and the truth of what we now possess in Christ Jesus. If a Christian gets hold of these things, he can never be defeated again. These are the very truths that give us an edge over the devil. This is what the prophet Isaiah prophesied when he said “…When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him.” Isa 59:19 this is why I said the days we are living in are the finest hours for the Christian. These are the days in which God is showcasing us to the world; we must rise to the occasion by reason of what we know by revelation not reasoning.
Paul said “For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.” Rom 8:19. Creation is not just waiting for another generation of people to walk through the world no! We are the ones to deliver the world and creation from the present corruption eating through it. But who are the sons of God? “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Rom 8:14
The concept of our authority: when a man has been authorized to act in a certain capacity, there is always some form of symbol that shows those he is acting toward that this man has the authority to act the way he is acting. A policeman has his uniform and badge symbols by which he is authorized to arrest and prosecute those who break the law of the land. He has been authorized by the government to act that way regardless of his physical stature.
We must understand however that a policeman in Nigeria is not a policeman in the United States. He can make no arrest in that land because the government of that land has not given him such authority. Even if he wears his uniform and carries his badge in the U.S. he still has no authority to act in the capacity of a policeman. This kind of authority applies in the spiritual realm.
We will learn something about territorial spirits in the book of Daniel. Daniel had been praying for twenty one days seeking the face of the Lord and an angel was sent to him from the very first day to make him understand the happenings of the last days. When this angel entered the kingdom of Persia, the territorial spiritual powers over Persia started to fight him for twenty one days until Michael came to help him. “But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me one and twenty days: but, lo, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me; and I remained there with the kings of Persia.” Dan 10:13. These territorial spirits continue to exert their powers over their territories and the only way to stop them would be by a higher spiritual authority which is why Michael had to step in because obviously, he was of a higher authority than the forces over Persia.
Jesus gives us a better understanding when the Pharisees accused Him of casting out devils by the prince of devils He said “…Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand: And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?” Matt 12:25-26. He goes on to say in verse 28 and 29 “But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you. Or else how can one enter into a strong man's house, and spoil his goods, except he first bind the strong man? and then he will spoil his house.”
Jesus acknowledged the fact that before He came, Satan operated as he pleased but verse 29 shows us a picture of what He did to the devil (strong man).
A greater authority will always bind the existing authority to its will. It is like when a man has a gun pointing to his enemy, that enemy at that point is subjected to the will of that man. This is the life that the kingdom has brought us into; we are in a place of permanent victory!
Jesus showed them the fact that He was casting out devils by the spirit of God and the kingdom of God which is a more superior kingdom has come. The Holy Ghost is the symbol of authority by which we undo Satan’s works. It is the Holy Ghost that identifies us as the sons of God and Citizens of the kingdom of Christ. Without Him, we have no authority at all to bring about any change or undo the works of the enemy in fact without Him we are vulnerable to the devil.
Paul was someone who had an understanding of who he was in Christ Jesus and we can learn a great deal from his understanding. In the book of Acts, Paul had been healing and casting out devils from people in the name of Jesus. Handkerchiefs and aprons coming out from Paul’s body were healing people and casting out these demons.
Certain Jew
s saw this and wanted to copy… you can never copy the results of one who is the son of the kingdom such results come from a source that is like no other, it can never be duplicated. They’d say “…We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preacheth.” Acts19:13.
Seven sons of a priest took it upon themselves to cast out devils just like Paul was doing; so they got a man who was possessed by an evil spirit and wanted to cast out the demon from the man. But the demon inside the man answered “…Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?” Acts 19:15
When the demon questioned “but who are ye?” he was not asking them for their names or for some form of introduction, he was questioning their authority, he was questioning their spiritual authority. They were in no place to cast out the devil authoritatively. The previous verses introduced some of them as “vagabond Jews” who were casting out devils by exorcising them out of people.
Exorcism is not a way of casting out devils by authority because here, certain rituals are performed to create a very uncomfortable atmosphere for the demon forcing it out of the person but not by authority. It is just like spraying pesticides in a particular environment to keep pest from coming into that environment. There is a difference between spraying your environment to keep rats away and introducing a cat into that environment. Rats will stay away not because that environment is uncomfortable but because a greater authority (the cat) has come.
Certain theories have come up saying that Jesus could exorcise demons out of people and that that is what the Bible refers to as “casting out devils”. That is a lie! Jesus was not performing any ritual to that effect, the Master operated by authority and not rituals. Matt 8:16 tells us “When the even was come, they brought unto him many that were possessed with devils: and he cast out the spirits with his word, and healed all that were sick:” he cast out the devils with His word. That talks about authority.
It is easy for the people of the world to think that the Lord was casting out devils by exorcist because they are limited in understanding spiritual authority. The mindset they have is that of Satan’s superiority over them so they can only believe in the ritualistic “hard work” to cast out devils negating the authority that has been given to us by the Lord.
The demon knew the authority of Paul and Jesus but the sons of Sceva had no authority to cast him out.
The spirit that we have received of God is the Spirit of authority and not the spirit of rituals. By the person of the Holy Spirit, we live the higher life. We live a life that is beyond this world, a life of authority the overcoming life.
Jesus said “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you. Notwithstanding in this rejoice not, that the spirits are subject unto you; but rather rejoice, because your names are written in heaven.” Luke 10:19-20
We do not negotiate with the devil no! People in authority do not negotiate, they command. God did not negotiate with the chaotic mass when He said “… let there be…” Jesus did not negotiate with the storms when he said “… peace be still…” Moses did not negotiate with the powers of Egypt when he went to bring Israel out of the land even though Pharaoh tried to negotiate.
I gave those few examples to point out the fact that the authority we have is not just in the casting out of devils but it cuts across every aspect of our existence. That is why Paul said the whole of creation is waiting for our manifestation, we are the original masters over creation, it was unto us that God gave the dominion over all of His creation but when that dominion was lost in the garden, creation became subjected to vanity. Now in Christ Jesus, we have regained the place of that dominion.
You never read in the Scriptures where Jesus negotiated with anyone or anything. One time He came to a tree expecting to find fruits but He found nothing so He spoke to the tree “…No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever.” Mark 11:14. The next morning on their way back, the disciples notice that the tree had dried up to the roots. The master ceased purpose from that tree and the tree died by a word of authority.